Who are we?
The ensemble playing a mass (Picture by Bart Meyvis)
The Jozef Pauly Ensemble is connected to the J.Pauly Municipal Academy of Music in Ekeren, Antwerp (Belgium).
It dates back to the Academy's flute ensemble run by Jef Van Boven and is still one of the Academy's classes for ensemble.
In October 1985, the group, enriched with guitar, double-bass, and percussion, became the "Jozef Pauly Ensemble", named after the founder of the Music Academy.
Right from the start, the group developed quickly and became known as a dynamic musical ensemble. In addition to many concerts in Belgium, concert tours took them to Denmark, Germany, France, Hungary, the Netherlands, Poland, Czechoslovakia and Sweden. Since July 2001, Astralia has been added to this list. In summer 2004 they made a three week trip to the USA. There they performed for American television and in the John F. Kennedy Center.
(Performance at the John F. Kennedy Center)
The group has done recordings for the Belgian radio and the French television and has gained international awards at the 9th and 11th International Music Festivals in Bydgoszcz, Poland (1986 and 1988) and 1st Prize Cum Laude, with a medal offered by the Belgian Ministry of Education, at the 37th & 41st International Youth Music Festivals in Neerpelt, Belgium (1989 & 1993). At the provincial concert tournament in Antwerp (November 1993 and November 1995), the ensemble has been confirmed in the category "Excellence" with congratulations from the jury.
Amongst others, the ensemble has cooperated with Prof. W. Deyle in association with the "Deutscher Musikrat" in 1990 and 1991, with François Glorieux in 1992 and with Thijs Van Leer in 1999.
The Jozef Pauly Ensemble has a very unusual strength: several piccolos, flutes, alto flutes, bass flutes, a double-bass flute, several guitars, a double-bass, a piano and percussion. With such a unique instrumental assortment, the group has to rely heavily on transcribed music.
Several composers have already written music especially for this unique ensemble, including G. Nuyts, M. Verkempinck and R. Pelckmans. At every concert works by Belgian composers are part of the programme.
The repertory varies widely from 16th century music to contemporary popular music. The group also performs frequently with solo instruments, such as vocals and guitar.
